Martheya Nygaard

(she/her/hers) @martheya_nygaard

 

Martheya Nygaard is a dance artist, educator, and content creator cultivating “distortion” as an aesthetic philosophy, challenging and expanding notions of contemporary dance, by creating dance resources and content for both on and offline. 

 

In 2018, Martheya co-created kNOwBOX dance (NB), a digital dance company, to re-envision the process of art making and sharing. As the Managing Director, Martheya guides the vision and growth for NB programming including the kNOwBOX dance Film Festival and Dance Behind the Screen Podcast. In 2020, Martheya co-created mixtamtous, a human-digital interface art exploration that utilizes human and machine interaction to offer exciting perspectives, challenge societal norms, and represent what is possible when venturing into the unknown. Her work has been presented nationally and internationally at venues including World Dance Alliance Global Summit in Canada, The Prague Quadrennial in Prague, and The Women in Dance Leadership Conference in Philadelphia. In Texas, she has been commissioned to choreograph or perform for AT&T Performing Arts Center Elevator Project, Arts Mission Oak Cliff, Big Rig Dance Collective, Dance Fusion, Danielle Georgiou Dance Group, Muscle Memory Dance Theater, Jordan Fuchs Company, Out on A Limb Dance Company, and Over the Bridge Arts. Martheya serves on the Board for Texas Dance Improvisation Festival and has been selected for the Business Council for the Arts - Leadership Arts Institute. She has been on Faculty as an Adjunct Professor of Dance for Texas Woman's University, Eastfield College, and Tarrant County College and taught at venues including American College Dance Association Conference, Universidad de las Américas, University of North Texas, and World Dance Alliance. Martheya worked as the Publicity Manager for the TWU Department of Dance and is a freelance graphic and web designer. Martheya received a BFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University and an MFA in Dance from Texas Woman’s University (TWU). Martheya is also certified in Pilates Mat. At TWU Martheya was awarded the Graduate Teaching Assistant Award of Excellence, Dance Department- Aileen Lockhart Endowed Scholarship, and Adrienne Fisk Outstanding Service Award. She has published articles in Journal of Dance Education and Dance Education in Practice